Today’s classic song of the day is “Lonely Boy” by Andrew Gold. Released in March of 1977, this tune hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Cash Box Top 100.
“Lonely Boy” is actually kind of a whiney little song about a firstborn kid being jealous of his little sister when she came along. I can identify but, gee, deal with it guy, okay? Apparently it mirrors Mr. Gold’s own experience as he, like the singer of the song, was “born on a summer day in 1951” and his little sister came along “in the summer of ’53.” Gold claims the song isn’t autobiographical at all but, well, it sure seems that way, doesn’t it?
Andrew Gold was born into a musical family. His mother was singer Marni Nixon, who provided the singing voices for Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, among others. His father was composer Ernest Gold, who won an Academy Award for his score for the movie Exodus. (His little sister, BTW, became a successful psychotherapist.)
Young Andrew got his first recording contract at the age of 16 and worked throughout the ’70s and ’80s as a singer, songwriter, producer, and studio musician. He played on and did the arrangements for Linda Ronstadt’s Heart Like a Wheel album (including former classic songs of the day, “You’re No Good” and “Heat Wave“), as well as tracks for Eric Carmen, Art Garfunkel, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Carly Simon, James Taylor, and Cher. He also wrote songs recorded by Trisha Yearwood and Wynonna Judd and produced tracks for Vince Gill and Celine Dion.
“Lonely Boy” was Mr. Gold’s first and biggest solo hit. He also had a hit in 1978 with “Thank You for Being a Friend,” which went on to bigger acclaim as the theme song for the TV series The Golden Girls. Andrew Gold passed away in 2011, age 59, of heart failure after a long bout with kidney cancer.
And here’s your interesting trivia fact of the day. You know who’s singing backup on “Lonely Boy?” It’s none other than the lovely and talented Miss Linda Ronstadt. Now you know the rest of the story…
